RETAIL DESIGN

Retail Design / This article appeared in Contagous issue Eighteen. Contagous is an intelligence resource for the global marketing communiy focusing on non-tradiional media and emergng technologes www.contagiousmagazine.com For more information please contac Harry Gayner on +44 (0) 20 7575 1822 or harry@contagiousmagazine.com

Retail Design / Quarterly Trend Briefing / By Matthew Eberhart / retail design / quarterly trend brieﬁng / A cashmere sweater is a cashmere sweater and a pair of jeans isn’t much more than cotton thread, a few metal rivets, and – if you’re lucky – real indigo dye. But what happens if you weave in a sory, a lifetyle, a pas or a future? When an apparel brand uses is retail space to create a whole new world, is clothes sart to sand for something truly unique. The romance of clothing isn’t necessarily the newes trend in apparel marketing, but i gves a brand an edge when i’s done particularly well. Especially now, wih shoppers thinking twice about what they want versus what they ned, every detail counts. Qualiy in-sore implies qualiy in produc, and that might be jus what i takes to convince a shopper to shell out a couple of dollars more in the mids of economic panic / Retro-Fi / The brand that his the hisory books and comes back wih a perfec replica of some bygone time is the brand that builds a clientele for life. Of course, this sort of hisoricism isn’t necessarily for everyone. But for anyone who’s ben biten by the vintage viper, i ensures a near endless supply of the syles, cuts and colours they love. The task is a daunting one, however, and i takes an almos obsessive attention to detail. But the return is always huge in terms of brand awareness and presige /

J. Crew / Tribeca, New York Kapital / Japan Hollister / USA The trad American style of the 50s and 60s recently This fast-growing chain of clothing stores in Japan Abercrombie & Fitch spotted the potential to appeal to scaled the ivy-covered walls of New England and ended starts by blending the images of old time Japanese middle-class teens who weren’t quite mature enough to contagious up in a renovated liquor shop in downtown New York and American tradition. But rather than merely recreate appreciate their brand. So it responded with Hollister, a City. The tobacco-stained wood furniture and the booze verbatim the styles of old railroad workers, farmers, 1980s SoCal surf-inspired label, complete with fictitious on display transports shoppers right back into the and fishermen, Kapital folds them all into a brand new, history, immersive store environments, and a rule about clubroom classicism of the middle of the 20th Century. indescribable culture. The crafty, cosy shabbiness of playing music as loud as humanly possible at all times. And the striped ties, finely cut shirts, and sartorial each interior is absolutely unique. One stand-alone shop Although each in-store environment is a mere variation suiting are all inspired by the same brand of Cold War might fill every nook of a three-storey house, its floors on an archetype, the vibe feels unique and engaging intelligentsia. Everything, down to the subtle choice of covered with tatami mats and worn rugs. Another mall enough to give young shoppers the feeling that old-world accessory reproductions, is developed to help store could be filled with white-washed shelving that they’re part of a scene. The fake palm trees, tastefully evoke the Mad Men style to the fullest. Footfall to J Crew climbs from the floor to ceiling, all of it original and one- mismatched furniture, and dim lighting all contribute to stores is likely to enjoy a boost thanks to Michelle, Sasha of-a-kind. the beach-house-cum-dorm room aspiration. and Malia Obama wearing the brand at Barack Obama’s http://kapital.jp www.hollisterco.com inauguration. 90 / 91 www.jcrew.com

retail design / quarterly trend brieﬁng / KAPITAL / KAPITAL / LUNASOL / RGB / RGB /

Being & Nothingness / A brand has to sand for something, but when that something is nothing then the task of self- expression becomes an interesing challenge. This is the crux of minimal design: in the process of stripping away the accoutrement, i takes a contradicory flair to make the minimal look magnificent / Jil Sander / New York RGB / Berlin Lunasol / Japan A label famous for its uncompromising austerity, Jil Rather than pick a single identity and stick with it, RGB This Japanese make-up company hired design firm Sander’s Crosby Street store in New York reflects the guts and reopens its nondescript storefront every month Tonerico, Tokyo, to develop the interior for its Spring brand’s impressive sense of a not-too-distant future, with a new colour theme that’s reflected in every element 2009 launch event. Although Lunasol is a make-up familiar yet peculiar all at once. From the street, all that is of the interior design. If the colour of the month is red, brand and the space was temporary, it’s an incredible contagious visible is a single row of dressed mannequins standing in then the garments for sale are available in shades of red. example of using an interior to showcase product for the middle of a long, white space with a smooth marble If the colour is white, then every shirt and every pair of a specific market. Clean, simple and elegant – every floor. No racks, no hangers, no sales people – in fact no pants comes in your pick of white or white. The theme detail from the chiffon fabric walls to the subtle soft sense of commerce at all. On the second floor, however, goes beyond clothing, informing the colour of furniture lighting expresses the beauty of femininity perfectly. shopping sets in. Everything is still displayed with the and art on display. It’s simple yet tasteful approach to Capturing the emotional and psychological outlook clinical quality of a museum, but the stoic minimalism reinventing a store interior on a regular basis, and it’s of its consumers, the space, although minimal, seems that Jil Sander stands for is powerfully expressed in stylishly executed. completely alive in its subtlety. While people often think the single bars from which clothes hang and the stark http://rgb-berlin.de of minimal as stark, cold, and emotionless, Tonerico Serge Mouille lighting. For those who yearn for nothing, filled it with life. Jil Sander offers it all. www.jilsander.com www.tonerico-inc.com 92 / 93 Matthew Eberhart is senior copywriter at MP Creative, a design consultancy and creative studio / www.mpcreative.net

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